Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-23
WHEN NIAGARA MAS DRY.
A Remarkable Day, F0rtY Years
Ago, an It's Hfst0rr.

Ago, an it's Hixtorr.
"Thirty. nine years ago last spring,
said All old resident of this VILLAGE, "a
sight was witnessed at the Falls of Nlag-
ara that had never been seen before. an
least by people then on earth, and I'm ald
probability such q sight will newer be
Witnessed again. 1t Was nothing more
nor less than the running dry OF the
great cataract, or at least SO nearly dry
that it it is no exagSeratlon to call Mt So
in which condition the falls remained
for one whole day.
"The winter Of lStS was one OF tine
coolest on record, and such ice has never
been known on Lake Erie since, guess
as was formed that season. 1t was of
enormous thickness. 1t was quite Late.
in the spring before the ice was loosened
even upon the shores of the lake 0ue
day--I think it was near the end OF
April-a very stiff nortbeasterly wind
came up, and it's force WAS SO great thu.
it rroved the immense fields of ice. then
entirely separated from the shore HP
the lake, piling tine foes in great banks
as they moved The sfgau Of shoze nee
banks Is described by those who wnt-
messed it as one Of most avful grandeur.
Towards night the wind changed sud-
denly to the opposite quarter, and grew
INTO terrible gale from that dlreeUren-
The lakes surfaee was packed with mHn-
iature ieebergs, and these were hurrred
back by the gale with such tremen9@us
force that an impenetrahle damn was
formed in the neck Of the lake frum
which Niagara river flows. and the grsaa
Current of water which in6s it's way
from the lake in the rushing channel af
that stream, to be dashed over the gu
gantic preeipics Of the fallss Was Sd held
N check that no more than one~half nrs
usual volume coull Gnd q psssags
through the immense pack of bce-
CAS- this pack was stuebour. it was
naturally but q short time before the
fail had drained nearly all the waiter
out of the river. This, Of COURSE Ce~
CURED during the night, and we peo-
pie who hveu In Niagara village KNEW
nothing of the phenemsnon until next
morning. I remember that 1 awoks
very early that morning with the sense
of something strange oppressing me- 1t
was some time before / discovered that
tbs feeling came from the TACT that the
cataract was almost missing. lumped
out of bed, and on lsavfng the AaGss
found that scores of others had been
awakened by the same circumstance
and were hurrying toward the falls to-
see what the trouble was. We Ssun&
that the great Niagara Falls were about
one quarter it's former volume
I'VE had not heard of the troabHs Mt
Lake Erie, and the Terrible Thought that
the falls were running dry created a
feeling of alarm not easily imaginable.
The American Channel haa &win&Isd to-
q creek in comparison with It's origfnal
propro,iou, while the British Channel
resembled some ordinary river in tine
drought of August. Goat Island was Is
big as two Goat Islands, a. tine waiter
had shrunk from every side ef 1T, leaSing
wide expanse of wet. slinny. ragged
rocks whicn no eye in that viehlaHty hsa
ever seen before. The bed of the Cxna-
dian rapids far out into the stream, was
dry. as was the space between the
lower end Of Goat Island and oUt be-
yend the tower. The rocks thus ex-
posed were black and forbfaafng. glvfag
the dry river bed the, appearance OF n
tract of charred stumps- The Three
Sisters looked forlorn i'm their senhanescf
dime ns:ons. The great let of wa4sr
which had, from tune out of unlnd.
leaped into the air about 800 yards south
of this group Of islands na the great
rapids. and whfch Is leaping there tO day,
was not leapirg that m1rning, and as
some one remarked that day, the tue-
mendous roar of Niagara had subsidized
to a moan
1.-THE scene was at once GesolaSe,
strange and awful to eontsmplate- The
picture will newer leave my mina- The
whole village was out exploring enves,
dark recesses, curious formations I'm the
rocks, and other Remarkable features of
the cataract that no mortal eye had pro-
bably ever gazed upon before TSesss
explorations were made safely t9 the,
very brink of the Horseshoe raPIas n
Mr.. Holly drove a horse and Ruggy
from the head of Goat Island clear to-
the spot where the leiping let OF winter
had always writhed and toame1. He
also cut several sticks OF tfna5er near the
brink of Horseshoe Fall. had Them
hewed there and kauled them away with
four horses. These sticks-they were
fine large timbers-are in the fnanne of
some house at the falls NOW. This ne
condition of affairs at the Gait
aract continued all day and showed no
sign of change when the people went
to bed that night. When we aross I'm
the morning, however, the old fandlSar
thunder of the Falls was again shaking
the earth az before and the river and
rapids were again the seething, y hirHlng.
torrent OF old The bcs uu
the lake had shifted again. and SOME
time In the night the long restrained
of water mad rushed DOWN and
reclaimed its own-"-tCor. N. ". Sum.